Volcano in Iceland starts erupting, worries travelers: Here’s what you need to know

Reuters

Warning signs block the road to Bardarbunga volcano in the northwest region of the Vatnajokull glacier.

The volcano in Iceland that’s been rumbling all week has started erupting, said Icelandic authorities on Saturday.

The country’s meteorological office said “a small subglacial lava-eruption has begun under the Dyngjujökull glacier,” adding that “the aviation color code for the Bárðarbunga volcano has been changed from orange to red.”

The red code indicates an eruption is “imminent or in progress” and “significant emission of ash into atmosphere likely,” says the Icelandic Meteorological Office. Get more background and a map showing Icelandic volcanic systems here.

An Icelandic newspaper, the Morgunbladid, and other media outlets have circulated a map showing a no-fly zone near the eruption, with that zone having dimensions of 140 nautical miles by 100 nautical miles.

But recent reports also have emphasized that so far the erupti­on isn’t have any ef­fect on in­ternati­onal flig­hts, and all Icelandic airports remain open. The affected region is more than 190 miles east of the capital of Reykjavik, said a BBC article. Here is some of the reporting on Twitter:

Eruptions in 2010 from the northern Atlantic island’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused the largest shutdown in air traffic since World War II, as aviation regulators responded to concerns that fine ash could destroy jet engines, Watts noted. The eruption closed most of Europe’s airspace for six straight days, affecting an estimated 100,000 flights, hitting 10 million passengers and costing airlines around $1.8 billion in lost revenue.

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